Virtual field trips are a great opportunity to bring the world into your classroom – no permission slips or refreshing bus rides required! We embarked on a free ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’ virtual science field trip from the BBC Learning Center and we were so impressed that we couldn’t keep our experience a secret.
The Walking with Dinosaurs virtual field trip ticks all the boxes for a memorable and fun class adventure. It’s organized around an engaging interactive map that allows students to simply click to travel to six dinosaur dig sites and listen to conversations with real paleontologists. Stunning computer-generated imagery (CGI) brings the dinosaur story to life, and students can end their exploration with fun bonus content after completing their world tour.
The teacher resources included with this tour are like an expert docent waiting for you at the entrance.
How to Prepare for a “Walking with Dinosaurs” Virtual Science Field Trip
Ready-made, high-quality classroom resources are the ultimate time-saver. To access the Walking with Dinosaurs virtual field trip, simply visit the landing page and sign up for a free BBC Learning Center account. The tour is conveniently formatted in Google Slides. Opening the map will prompt you to make a copy of the field trip slides. Click into slideshow mode and you’re good to go. You can easily click on the interactive map to preview the Visit the Dig and Meet the Dinosaurs clips for each location, but for more guidance, you can also read the Walking with Dinosaurs Teacher’s Guide.
The guiding question for this trip is “How do paleontologists use fossils to learn about the lives of dinosaurs?” The free printable Paleontologist Field Journal optimizes children’s learning by keeping them focused on this big idea. The journal sections are matched with excerpts from the trip so children can record their reactions to each dig site. Of course, everyone wants to know more about each fascinating dinosaur species, so the magazine also includes fact file pages for kids to write their own additional research. To prepare for the trip, print journal pages for each student. Then have students assemble their own journals, following the instructions in the Teacher’s Guide.
Excavation site highlights
This virtual science field trip is a perfect fit for what teachers need to teach. It is ideal for units actively gathering information from fossil data or using fossils to identify patterns that change over time. The class’s collective experience with travel content can provide shared knowledge and vocabulary for reference in other science courses. However, kids will mostly remember how cool it was to hear real paleontologists talk about questions like, “Why does this Pachyrhinosaurus have different trim than all of its companions?” Our student audience was particularly interested in scientists using skeletal measurements to predict the age of a baby Triceratops. We’ve received incredible reactions to footage from excavation sites in North Africa. As scientists unearthed vertebrae from Spinosaurus’ mighty tail, one student exclaimed: “Wait, dinosaurs can swim? ! “
After students learn about each dig site, they can watch a selection of relevant clips from BBC’s Walking with Dinosaurs. The series uses stunning CGI technology to attach a story to each fossil collection. This combination of science, technology and imagination impressed even the most discerning audience: middle school students! Not surprisingly, their favorite dinosaur is teenage Gastonia. Known as the “Band of Brothers,” they hang out all day, protecting each other and waiting for their armor to develop. (This sounds a lot like seventh grade!)
More features kids (and teachers!) will love
This trip will definitely help teachers achieve the required standards and provide children with the opportunity to build key science, technology, understanding and learning skills. But let’s be honest: What students care about most is the entertainment value. We love how the Walking with Dinosaurs virtual field trip makes learning fun and engaging.
Just like in-person field trips, virtual field trips should be a social experience. Students will enjoy spending this trip with a partner or triad. They can negotiate the order in which they visit the site and talk about the videos. They can also work together to complete each journal section and tap into the field review quiz.
The conversational personality quiz around the bonus “What kind of iconic dinosaur are you?” was the one that got the biggest laughs. One student commented: “I didn’t know my weird love for asparagus could predict what kind of dinosaur I was!” The Minecraft Educational “Build with Dinosaurs” challenge offers another engaging feature. This is a popular option for early finishers and a great motivator to stay focused and complete each leg of the ride.
